Not much has been revealed about the Christian wedding ceremony, probably the most solemn affair of the recent Priyanka Chopra-Nick Jonas wedding gala held at Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur. However, we heard on the grapevine that two of the members of the piano quintet which played as the bride walked down the aisle, were Malayalis! The violinist, Carol George, is from Kochi, and part of the Symphony Orchestra of India, while viola player, Subin Kumar, who hails from Kottayam is a member of the Cochin Chamber Orchestra.
Apparently, the bride and groom wanted live music from a professional western classical band on their special day. As each bridesmaid and groomsman duo walked down the aisle, a different piece of music was played. Nonetheless, Priyanka's walk was accompanied by a beautiful piano solo. The quintet played iconic German maestro Felix Mendelssohn’s Wedding March following the vows, as the couple was pronounced husband and wife.
Wedding bells
“Playing for her on her wedding is something so special and wonderful that I could have ever dreamed of. I dedicated and gave everything I have inside of me as a musician to make her day special. She deserves all and I was deeply touched by their vows that they had written for each other,” Kusmitha Biswakarma, a violinist from Mumbai and member of the quintet, posted on her social media page. Tanya Krytskaya on the cello and Tanisha D on the piano made up the rest of the quintet.Incidentally, Carol has played at Nita Ambani’s 50th birthday party which was also held at Udaipur, as part of an AR Rahman concert. He is also a member of the Orfeo Quintet which made waves with their western classical renditions of Malayalam songs like Padakali.